The choice of high-performance 802.11n systems on the market was greatly increased last week, with wireless vendors Aruba, Meru, Ruckus and Trapeze all stepping up to the plate to show off their latest wares. Higher data transfer rates and better range are just two of the benefits being touted by the wireless vendors.

Some of these vendors are even trying to beguile enterprises with the idea that an 802.11n deployment could be used to replace their wired edge networks. But being a shared medium, wireless packets can be accessed not just by trusted users such as employees, but also by the shady character down the road with a telescopic aerial. At least with wired networks, outside attackers intent on lifting corporate data have to breach the enterprise firewall first.

Another issue likely to deter firms from ripping out their wired networks and replacing them with 802.11n WLANs is the reliability of critical business applications running over wireless technology.

Then there’s the perennial issue of money. With IT budgets under pressure, firms are seeking better return on investment on the wireless kit they have deployed before rolling out a new lot.

But the main objection to an 802.11n rollout is that the standard still has not been ratified, which means any firm looking to take advantage of the technology must be willing to run the risks associated with being an early adopter.